Meh. Nothing has gotten me excited in the group stage of this inaugural 32-club tournament thus far. There’s too many teams. The stadiums are too big for the fan demand of these games. And how much do the European clubs really care?
The talk of the town has been how Brazilian clubs are dominating the tournament going into the final week of group play. Botafogo beat PSG. Flamengo beat Chelsea. But does it really matter? I would imagine it means much, much more for a South American team to go toe-to-toe with a major European club rather than vice versa. On top of that, the Brazilians are in the middle of their club season while clubs like PSG and Bayern Munich just ended a domestic and European gauntlet of scheduling. After taking down Inter Milan in the Champions League Final only weeks ago, PSG is supposed to get up for a match versus an MLS side like the Seattle Sounders? Please.
Group stage has been mediocre at best with a few highlights sprinkled in. I’m more interested to see how games play out as the teams enter the knockout Round of 16 this weekend.
2 things that would make this tournament better quality:
- Fewer teams: 16-24 clubs is the sweet spot here. Having 4 teams each from Asia and Africa is a tough sell. Having the best club from Oceania? I love you Auckland City, but you have no business being here. Sorry. Have it like the old Euro format. 16 clubs. Top-2 in group go straight to the quarters.
- Majority of group stage matches should be played in MLS stadiums. There were a few sellout group stage matches with Real Madrid, PSG and Miami in the mix…but this tournament has been anything but sell-out football. 30,000 between Botafogo and Seattle at the NFL’s Lumen Field. Only 23,000 when Atletico played Botafogo at the 80,000 capacity Rose Bowl. 16,000 between Boca and Auckland in Nashville. Only 6,000 saw Auckland play Benfica in Orlando…and that was in a MLS stadium. Only Real Madrid and a few other big clubs can sell out stadiums against trash opposition. FIFA can’t be greedy. HA! They should have played the group stage matches in MLS stadiums and packed the stands with energy, noise and a much harder ticket to find. Instead, we saw the upper decks empty across a majority of NFL stadiums. It will be interesting to see what the turnout looks like going into the knockout rounds.
Pretty much agree with everything you said here. I think FIFA has two new obsessions that really rub me the wrong way:
1) Making sure that fans are entertained year-round through constant games
2) Pandering to Americans
Players need a rest. European giants like PSG are going to half-ass these games every single time. They just are. And the funniest part is that they’ll still hang in there with clubs from South America and Asia who are giving it their all. It’s low quality, low-stakes soccer.
I also think America’s “growth” in soccer still feels very forced. Of course there’s a genuine national interest in the sport. But the culture isn’t there yet for these massive, arena-type games that FIFA is trying to artificially create. Growing proper fanbases takes time. America isn’t there yet, and I think the tournament would have felt more natural taking place in another country/region. Better playing conditions, better stadiums, better infrastructure for the sport, better fan turnout.
“According to the Associated Press, there have been one million empty seats during the group stage of the tournament”. Jeez.
Looks like Borna Sosa’s career is on a bit of a dip.
It’s better that way for us.
When Sosa scored that last goal for us (against Poland in Nations League), I was afraid Dalic would try to work him into the starting eleven again.
But he was our worst player at WC2022 and hasn’t been good defensively for us at all. He’s also not a fighter, and doesn’t seem to be that assertive offensively, proven by the fact that he has an elite cross…but maybe only swings in two crosses per 90 minutes for us. Very frustrating.
I think he’s still useful as a sub, in special circumstances like if we need a some width, and he only comes in if we have Budimir in the game.
Otherwise, I wouldn’t really play him at all.
Released by Ajax.
He never really played well for Ajax and continued down hill in Serie A when he was on loan to Torino.
The questions I have Mate1, to which I suppose there is no clear answer, but I would be interested to know what you, Maminjo, and others think: would this down hill trajectory likely have started if he stayed at Stuttgart?
He seemed to play very well at Stuttgart . . . There was a time around 2021 when Pep was even looking at him as a possible left back signing for City.
Is this an ability/talent issue? A work ethic issue? A mental block? Is it due to style of play, one team or one league compared to the next?
Why do some players reach another higher level at this age/stage of career, and Sosa fell back?
What would be his best move now, and what are the chances he regains his upward trajectory? His rating and potential have both dropped like a rock on Sofifa . . . From 79/83 to 74/75.
Anyway, we had two disasters in 2023-4 at Ajax, and Sutalo came back very strong and blew them away in the Eredivisie this past year with his quality play. He was great. So that is some good news.
I think he was always a ‘specialty player’ who filled a role really well at his club, and he was in great form and full of confidence during his prime years at Stuttgart.
I think he fit really well at Stuttgart, because he largely played in Left Midfield and wasn’t relied on to play defence. He also had that 6’7″ Saša Kalajdžić up top for him to feed. He knew his role, it was a well defined role, and he played it well.
Funny thing is once they sold Kalajdžić…both Sosa and Kalajdžić struggled to rediscover their form. They almost need each other to succeed, and neither of them have recovered since.
Ajax was in disarray when he played for them, so it was a bad transfer decision by him. It made things worse for Sosa over there. Torino kind of played him all over the place (at LB, MF, in a few various formations), and since he’s not an adaptable player (like Petar Sucic is) he probably couldn’t get consistent form. He also pretty much entirely played at LB for us too (not his greatest position), and was our weakest link at WC2022.
Seemed like he is best suited in some sort of a formation where he’s not a part of the backline, with a very solid defender providing cover behind him, and there needs to be a target man up top for him to feed.
We have Budimir, who would work well with him…but we already have Gvardiol and Perisic on that left side, so it’s not easy for him to get time over such capable and physically strong players (with that ‘physicality’ being another area that Sosa did not really develop, which also hurt him too).
Inter fans Pero nickname after last night’s excellent performance ?
Petar Sexic
#EpicSexic
Hopefully Bati impresses Como fans too – and doesn’t get monikered with
Martin No Batterina
Your faith in Petar establishing himself at Inter was pretty shaky, and he’s already making the news.
I told you not to be too worried about. He’s the type that makes himself fit into any team he plays in.
Baturina generally requires a team to play his style, and it’s good he’s at Como (who invested good money to bring him in). He’s in a good scenario for himself, and should be impressing there as well.
Anonymous is still worried !
Pero hasn’t even started yet !
Frattesi will be back for Fluminense (maybe Calhanoglu too) !
Rumours Inter trying to buy Rovella for 50m (35m cash + Asllani) !
Will Calhanoglu leave for Gala or Saudi ?!
Chivu has a hard-on for Mkhi (ever press conference he says what a great professional he is blah blah blah) !
For avoidance of doubt – Anonymous never doubts Pero (Anonymous was immediately in love after the 13′ Portugal cameo) – but Anonymous knows that it’s not always the best/most talented/deserving player that gets to play – lots of politics at play (Pero doesn’t have to be a little bit better than Italian Internationals – he has to be A LOT better) – also Kolarov (Chivu’s assistant) is he friendly with Croats or is he going to try to knife Pero – so many risks from all directions !
All this to say – we cannot rest – we have an OBLIGATION to PUSH Pero as much as we can to anyone that will listen
Pero getting good reviews for his play in the River Plate game…..from both the fans and media:
https://sempreinter.com/2025/06/27/petar-sucic-earns-rave-reviews-display-river-plate-0-2-inter-milan/amp/
Hajduk sell 16 year old Duje Slatina to Inter Milan. Anyone have insight on this kid? How much did Inter pay for him?
Probably nothing, and Hajduk will likely spend all of that money on bringing in another low-ceiling foreign player like Bamba.
Anonymous used the FIFA training rewards calculator
The illustrative € Inter will have to pay to Hajduk is €83,650
https://calculatorprdwestg001web.z6.web.core.windows.net
https://inside.fifa.com/transfer-system/clearing-house/calculator
Bože moj. Hajduk ga nije prodao.
Nice to have you back. So who sold him then?
In reference to the comments about Duje Slatina, there is no other way that Dalic will recognize the kid at this point without taking such a leap or dramatic step. Assuming he has a successful time at Inter, Dalic May give him the call up. They pretty much have to jump to a top tier destination to make this happen. This is also risky in some cases as it can potentially set people back if they don’t have time to develop first in making such a move. But let’s hope he does well.
I think it’s pretty sad that Hajduk is getting rid of so much talent. What are they gonna do with this money now?
Google “FIFA Training Rewards calculator”
Anonymous tried posting/sharing the FIFA link but Ante didn’t let the post through
Anonymous did the math with some rough assumptions and the calculator spit out [€86k]
He played very well. At his point he has to be a guaranteed starter for the National team. So composed for a young kid on a new team in a new league. Fantastic box to box midfielder.
🍆🍆🍆
Outstanding cameo from Pero (28′ + 6′ ET)
He played like the Pero we know and love
Assist on the winning goal (he was between the lines finding openings for about 5 minutes, just waiting for a pass to come in, it finally did, than turned made a nice quick run into the box and no look pass to Pio Esposito with a nice finish)
He should have had a 2nd assist in the 90′ – he got the ball – Sucic turned left – one River player fell on his butt – Sucic turned right – another River player took a swipe at him, but missed – Sucic turned left – another River player heavy sliding tackle, but missed – so he Pero three players back-to-back-to-back – than continued forward w/ a perfect pass to Mhki to go into solo, but shot over the bar
Anonymous only watched from the time Pero came on – but the game was HEAVY – meaning every single time an Inter player had the ball – a River player would come in with a heavy tackle (Anonymous know better understands Romero’s mentality, after watching this) – it was nuts – many of these tackles (including Lanzini (Anonymous’ knows him well as he used to play with Jarrod Bowen) wiping out Pero’s legs) should have been yellows (and only a few were)
One river player Acuna completely lost it – was arguing with Chivu and Kolarov (Chivu’s assistant) – and chasing everyone around the field – he also head-butted Thuram (but wasn’t called) – at the end of the game he was still chasing Thuram – who ran full-speed off the field to get away from him – while a few people jumped on Acuna and threw him to the ground
Very entertaining game to watch – Anonymous will consider spending more time watching South American games after this
Next Pero match R16 vs. Fluminense Monday 9pm EDT
Anonymous won’t be shocked if Chivu mentions Pero’s performance and if the Italian press given him well deserved praise (Anonymous’ will check tomorrow and report back any goodies)
Here’s the play in the 90′ where Pero should have gotten his second assist
x.com/DAZNFootball/status/1938067916030718354
Mkhitaryan completely whiffed on that guaranteed goal that Petar created for him. I’d bench Mkhitaryan for that gaffe.
Good to see. Chivu probably taking notes for the new season.
Here’s the Pero assist
x.com/DAZNFootball/status/1938064421483647384
Sucic assist for Inter, Pasalic two goals for Orlando and Musa a goal for Dallas (in a game that is still in the first half).
Pero not starting 😢😢😢😢😢
The games have been pretty good but it seems like football overload. You have the CWC and Gold Cup being played at the same time.
Hopefully Susic get’s some meaningful minute in tonight’s game. He’s looked pretty composed in the few minutes he has received thus far.
Anonymous is probably already hard waiting for him to play tonight.
It will be interesting to see how the European teams attending this tournament will perform this season since their players have little recovery time. There was a chart that showed how teams are playing 70-80 matches a season. Also I heard people complaining about getting advertisements at the side of their screen while watching the games. I wonder how football will change and what it will become in the future with more matches, increasing teams that are allowed to qualify and technology added to the game. Are people going to be more entertained or will the viewership decrease over time
One side point – I’m in Brazil right now, I have to say the level of interest from the local population here is moderate to high.
The topic of tournament comes up often in conversations, the games are always on TV. People are watching and talking about it and interested. Yes, it’s partially because their regular season is still ongoing, but still, it does indicate decent global interest.
Although physical attendance may be variable, TV viewership (at least here) is high, which is also revenue-builder. In fact, from what I hear, Brazil is already angling to host the next tournament in 4 years. So from that perspective, this inaugural tournament is probably a pretty big success to FIFA.
This is the first time for a CWC. I think it is fine. Aukland City has no business, but they call it a Club World Cup for a reason. You need to include the world.
The biggest problem is the European clubs are not interested and their fans lack interest because the season just ended. The South American, Mexican, Arab and Asian clubs and their fans are into the event and have created nice atmospheres. Most people know UEFA Champions League is the jewel of club competitions. The non European clubs see this as their chance to show they can play with euro clubs.
We will also see some bad atmospheres at next summer’s World Cup. With 48 nations there will be games nobody will want to watch.
You don’t think El Salvador vs Iraq will be an exciting match?
Players will likely be detained by ICE at the border and deported tbh